Unsuspected End
by DevilsCake
Summary: "A time-limit? Why is there always a time-limit? That is just unfair!"… "And love? Why is it always love, why can't it be, I don't know… friendship? I believe friendship is more important than love, but it's always love!" Roderich just wanted revenge. Gilbert just wanted to take a look. It wasn't supposed to turn like that. Based off-ish on Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty
1. Prologue

**A.N: **I am here with my first multi-chapter fic! Yeah! And I know that Roderich and Gilbert will be out of character, but you'll understand everything why later in the story! This is the intro, I hope you enjoy it because I really like writing it!

Eventual PruAus!

Hetalia is not mine!

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Unsuspected End

"Once upon a time, in a lost and far away Kingdom, lived King Roderich. The King was known for looking down at others. Very few of his loyal subjects were close of reaching his high expectations and none actually reach them. Roderich was known for his exceptional talent at piano. He could play his eyes close, one hand tied and facing his back to the instrument. He tried teaching few people but he abandoned the idea when he realised nobody would be good enough and worthy of his teaching lessons. The king refused to look at anyone who wasn't good enough for him and even less listen to what they had to say. He would barely look at the peasants as if they were mud on the ground. If he did look at them it wasn't with kindness or pity. He would be disgusted by even looking at those poor people and would let them know. He would make the people of his kingdom pay high taxes for the reason that they weren't good enough to be part of the kingdom and that they should at least pay that much only to thank their good King who accepted them on his lands even if they weren't worthy of it.

Most wondered how the King got to the throne. They wondered why his father hadn't taught him how to respect others and how to rule as a great king. They wondered why the new king was the exact opposite of his predecessor. The king would shut them up by saying, like it was the most natural thing in the world, that the Kingdom had suffer from the attitude and the lack of action of the ancient king and that to stop the kingdom from collapsing he had no choice but to do as he did. Many would believe Roderich because of his charisma and few would see through the mask but wouldn't speak up in fear of losing their head.

What the King would not say was that his father, as great as he was to the rest of the people, was barely there for his son. He would always leave him in the castle with a nurse to take care of him and sometimes lock him up in his room so he wouldn't be disturbed. At some point, the now dead king, would hire a music teacher to teach his son how to play an instrument, not because he liked him, but because that would make him occupied with something else than going outside. Roderich, as young as he was, knew his father was going away to see the people, knew that the only reason why his father left him to be alone was because of the peasants in the kingdom. The kid grew jealous of all the attention the poor were receiving from his father. In his teenage years, the young prince developed hate towards the people who stole his father. His mom had died long ago and his father would not acknowledge his presence when they were in the same room. The non-existent father-son relationship soon crashed and after some time, none of them would know if the other was still in the castle. They would not eat together nor be in the same room. The castle was big enough for both of them to avoid each other. When the old king died, Roderich didn't even feel sad, in fact, he had a small feeling of joy. He would be able to take revenge on those people who took all of his father attention. He wouldn't kill them that would be no fun, and short live. He would make them pay for the misery he had to live all these years because of them.

After three years of being on the throne, the people of his kingdom were living in misery. They tried to complain to the King, they tried asking for audiences but none were taken seriously by the King. He would listen to the complaints and then dismiss the guy out of the room before smiling proudly at his work. The peasants were angry at him, they wanted him to change things, they wanted him to be a nicer king, but he would hear none of that. He had suffered enough for these people, now it was there turn.

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On a summer evening, King Roderich was playing piano in his private quarters. He liked the sound the instrument was making, it relaxed him and it would take him away from his life. He always played his eyes closed, so he could imagine himself out of his castle of misery, imagine himself someplace where people weren't all idiots and where they could survive on their own, without the need of a king, after all, he grew up without the need of a father, people could survive without a good king.

"You have a talent for piano." A feminine voice made the King shot his eyes open. He looked around before spotting the woman in the middle of the room, not too far from him. "Who let you come in?" He asked wondering how his guards would dare let someone he did not approve of in the castle, and even worse, in his chambers. He would have to deal with his guards on duty after getting rid of the woman who stood in his room. "I let me in myself" she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And now if you would kindly kick yourself out of my castle that would make me a really happy king and maybe lower the taxes for your family." The woman chuckled a bit before throwing him a sad smile. "Silly you, my family don't live on your lands; I'm here to teach you a lesson."

Roderich was at loss of words for once and he was confused. This woman, who he had no idea how she came in his rooms, wanted to teach him a lesson. It didn't make sense, he was the king and this poor excuse of a noble Lady would not laugh in his face like he was some short of funny clown. He stood up from his piano and looked at her. "I do not know who you are and I don't care. What I know is that you are not worth of my time and if you don't leave right now by the door, I'll force you out by the window." The woman let her happy face go down and looked at him seriously. She gave him a sad smile. "You are a poor excuse of a King. You do not deserve to rule on these lands and you shall learn a lesson. Your voice, that you use to bring people down, will be taken from you. You will then fall into a deep sleep and your castle will sleep with you. One day, someone will come inside and wake you up, you will then have, three full moons the make this person love you, if you do not succeed, you'll turn into a statue of stone for eternity, watching people live happily ever after."

The king, who had listened to every word, looked at the witch with angry eyes. She probably was a liar and was probably trying to scare him. "Listen, I am no fool. You do not scare me with your empty threats, I'll…." Roderich continued moving his lips realizing no words could be heard. He looked at the woman trying to insult her but no words were forms. She gave him a last sad smile before he blacked out falling on the ground right next to his piano.

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Gilbert, much to his mother dismay, was an adventurer. The boy, since the day he could walk on his own, would always find himself in dangerous situations. He would climb a three and almost fall to his death. He would run into the forest without supervision and would most likely run into a wild animal. He would run in the streets and get hit by a carriage. He would stay on the ground scaring everyone who had witness the scene, just to get up, dust himself off and leave smiling happily with his prank. Gilbert would often be yelled at by his father. He was the only son and he would be the one to get the land after his father's death. Gilbert's father couldn't afford losing his only son. The farm was given from father to son for the past four generations and it wouldn't stop because of a stupid boy who can't keep away from dangers. The young boy was hard on his parents' nerves and they hoped the boy wouldn't be so careless.

When the albino boy turned seven, his mother came with his baby brother in her stomach. At the time he didn't know if it would be a boy or a girl, but he wished it was a boy so he could bring him on all sorts of adventures. Luckily for Gilbert, nine months later he received a baby brother and he wasn't the only happy about the fact that the baby was a boy. The father of the two boys would not have to watch Gilbert as much and wouldn't be as scared to let him go and play on his own. If he died in an accident then Ludwig, the new baby, could take the land.

Growing up, Gilbert found himself looking at mysteries. He would hear about an enchanted cave in the wood and he would go and investigate on it, sometimes bringing his younger brother with him. The older son soon realised that his brother was much more responsible and he would never put himself in a situation of danger, a fact that Gilbert found annoying and unawesome. He tried showing Ludwig that taking risks if often worth it, but the younger boy would never listen to him and to be fair, it was annoying for the albino that his younger brother dared not to listen to him.

At the age of sixteen, Gilbert had already solved a couple of mysteries, from a sick fairy to a hurt unicorn. He was renown in his village and they would often ask him to come and look at something if it was a little out of the ordinary. He was proud of himself, he was kind of famous. Kind of. One day, he received the visit of a stranger, he asked him if he could come and try to resolve a problem with a certain sleeping castle, outside of the village. As much as the young man wanted it, he couldn't. He still had to take care of Ludwig until the boy would be older and he was helping his father a lot on the farm. The mysterious stranger then disappeared of the village and of Gilbert's mind.

A year later, Gilbert met a wizard. The old men propose Gilbert to teach him a little more about magic. Not making him an apprentice just giving the boy more knowledge that he could use on his "missions" as he came to call them. Gilbert's parents still didn't want to let their oldest son go, so the wizard taught the young boy in his house. Coming each morning and leaving a little bit after noon so the boy could still help on the farm. It lasted a couple of years, until one day the wizard stopped coming.

When Gilbert turned twenty-five, he decided to go and travel around the Kingdom and maybe around the earth to resolve mysteries. With Ludwig being eighteen and his parents not needing him helping anymore, they let him go. His mom cried a lot, hugging him again and again. She couldn't believe one of her son was leaving. She didn't want him to leave and she reminded him, for the fifth hundred time that he would still be welcome if he ever decided to come back. His father hugged his son once, patting him on the back telling him how much he was proud of him getting away from the family nest.

Saying goodbye to Ludwig was the hardest for Gilbert. He had seen the boy growing up and he had taught him many things about life and about how to make the perfect prank, knowledge the blond boy never used in his life. On his part, the younger brother was sad seeing his older brother leave. They had a great relation and they were really close despite the fact that they had a seven-year gap. They hugged once, but for a long time, both keeping their tears to themselves. After his goodbyes, which were more difficult than he had first thought, Gilbert left the house with a backpack full of food and clothes and water to help him during his journey.

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The first few months, Gilbert had a hard time convincing people that he could help them with out of the ordinary problems. They didn't really believe the young albino and they usually shoo him out of their way. But, as they say: "All you need is a chance. If you're good you'll go far, if not, change what you are doing." And one day, Gilbert got his chance. There was a problem at the river. The debit was stronger than usual and people couldn't get in like before and they feared to even get close to it. The albino spent three days wondering what the cause could be. He then saw the problem. An angry water nymph. The nymph had been living in the river since she was born and people used her river but they never gave her anything in exchange. She grew tired of it and decided that the humans did not have the rights to use the water anymore. The young men then asked her what she wanted and the answer was company. Gilbert figured that if human spoke to the nymph while cleaning clothes or just taking water, the creäture would not feel alone anymore. The next morning, people came and talked to the nymph, two days later the river calmed itself again.

Over the next few months, people started talking about the young boy and how he managed to help the people of a village. The word spread around and he soon became in demand. Most and most people wanted his help to resolve things they couldn't by themselves and sometimes he was asked to marry the daughter of the family, proposition he refused every time. He wasn't really into girls and he much preferred going around helping others and risking his life with magical being than settling down with someone into a boring life.

For the next two years, that's what Gilbert did. Help the others with magical problems, but he soon realised that it was the same again and again. Sure, he met different people travelled to different kingdoms, but his job was becoming boring. The problems were always and angry element nymph or fairies joking around or a lost ghost. He never really had any real mysteries like he thought he would find on his journey. One night, sitting at a table in an inn he considered going back home. He missed his little brother more than anything and he also missed his parents. He hadn't got any news in the past year since the family messenger bird died. Even if they did bought a new one, the bird had never seen Gilbert, so he couldn't deliver a message and on his side, let just say the albino has struggled with money.

"This Castle is becoming creepier by the years!"

"I believed they said they would cut all the vegetation."

"Rumors say they tried but did not succeed."

"I think the castle is cursed!"

"That's crazy! I heard they never found the king that was living in the castle."

"They're not sad about that, apparently the king was awful."

Gilbert overheard the conversation and this cursed castle really picked his curiosity. He never had a case like that and he could give it a shot before going home. He thought of everything it could bring him if he could solve the problem or lift the cursed. He approached the group of men and cough to make his presence known. "I overheard your conversation by mistake, but I wonder if you could tell me where that cursed castle is located, I would like to go and see for myself. "The men in front of him laughed loudly before one replied. "Listen kid, this castle will be your death. Trust me." Gilbert was a little bothered to be considered a kid, he was 27! "But I really want to go, and I am an expert in those sorts of things. I've been travelling for the past two years solving those kinds of mysteries. All I want is to take a look." The men looked at him like he was crazy but answered anyway. "The castle is in the next Kingdom. You can't miss it." Gilbert smiled and thanked the men before paying and leaving the inn. He couldn't wait to see that cursed castle.

A week later, Gilbert found himself in front of said castle. It was terrifying. He could see the vines climbing up the walls; large threes were standing tall here and there. Different kind of plants covered the ground, but the strangest thing is that everything seemed dead. When he entered the garden, he found it to be overly quiet. Sure, nobody was living there, but animals would make sounds. He started walking towards the castle entrance only to realise that the closer he got, the harder it was to continue walking. More and more vines would be in the way, he would trip over roots he swore were not there before. When he reached the door he realised that the threes around him were dead. There was no life what so ever, not even the sound of a bird and that scared the albino. He looked back only to see all the travel he had to do. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door but before his fist could connect with the wooden surface, the door opened before him, letting him with an unsuspected view."

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**A.N:** Voilà for the intro! Chapters are not prewritten, but I do have all of the plotline, from beginning to end, so do not worry about it. I can't guarantee when I'll update, but I will finish this story!

Reviews are friends :) I will gladly take all constructive reviews; after all I want to get better at writing!


	2. Chapter 1

**A.N: **Here is chapter 1! I'm so late for this one and I'm sorry, just lots of stuff happened and I was super busy, really. Anyway I wrote the chapter going through different mood, so you'll probably notice that, and sorry about that! It's also kinda short, again sorry about that. Hope you like it anyway!

**Disclaimer: **Hetalia is not mine, nor is the Disney tales you might recognize in this.

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Chapter 1

"Rumours in town would say that the castle near the forest was always like this. Never taken care of, letting nature take back what belongs to her. They would tell that once an evil King lived there and one day, so caught up in his evilness he became a tree in the centre of the entrance hall. Some people would tell travellers stories about how they braved the dark forest and its monsters and got to the castle. Legends would say that the people living inside those stone walls could never see the sun.

However, some rumors would say that this castle was once the home of the poor. They would say how the nice King that lived there would give food to his starving people. Some would even say that the King living there was a Saint. They would say that the unfortunate King was cursed by a jealous witch and that the poor man was now trapped inside a tree in the centre of the entrance hall. Legends would say that the King would one day wake up from the curse and bring the sun back in the castle and equality to the villagers.

Both parties may have disagreed on how the castle ended up being dark and unwelcoming but they would sometimes agree or disagree on since when the King stopped showing signs of life. They would say from a couple of generations to a couple of centuries. Nobody knew. What they knew is when the Eldest of the village was born; the dark forest was fully grown and rumours were already well-known.

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Somewhere in the castle a maid opened her eyes. Wondering exactly what had happen. She remembered cleaning the dining hall and then she was there on the ground. She stood up and looks around a little confused, her expression quickly turning from confused to horrify. The carpeted floor wasn't bright deep red like it used to be, it was more of a plain red covered in dust. The polished dark wooden table was covered in dust, letting the carving of the family armories hidden. The wooden cushioned chairs were in no better shape than the table, but none of the cushions had holes in them.

The maid didn't know how much time she was out, by the look of it she was out for quite a while but nobody seemed to have found her or they probably were in the same state as her, She realised she had a lot of work to do before the King would wake up. If he was to see his castle in that state, all the servants would be severely punished. She dust herself off and went looking for other cleaning personal in hope of finding them as fast as possible, they didn't have time to rest.

Somewhere else in the castle, in front of a heavily decorated wooden door two guards opened their eyes. They were in a sitting position leaning against marbled wall, swords on the floor next to their shields both covered in dust, like the rest of the room they noticed. They looked at each other panicked. They were supposed to be on watch in front of the King's rooms and yet they were both asleep on the floor. They wondered if the King would kill hem for this but looking at the dust on the ground and on the statues they came to the conclusion that they weren't the only ones slacking on the job. They knocked on the door to make sure their King was alright.

When Roderich came back to his senses woken up by a knock on his door, the first he noticed was how his limbs were heavy and hurting from an unknown pain. Without opening his eyes he slowly tried moving his legs or his arms which moved without any problems. The second thing the King notice was that he wasn't in his bed. He was laying on something way too uncomfortable for it to be any kind of bed. He finally opened his eyes looking directly at a marble floor. He saw his glasses near him and took them before sitting up. He felt his head pounding by doing so and he wondered how exactly he ended up on the floor next to his piano with a huge headache.

"Those stupid servants could have at least put me in a bed. Incompetents." The king finally stood up and dusts himself off. Nobody could do something right in this castle and he always had to do everything by himself. Ready to yell at the first person he would see, Roderich opened his door with brutal force only to come face to face with one of his guard looking at him worriedly. Roderich opened his mouth and started yelling at them for being not being careful but stopped when he noticed the look on the other man's face. "What is it" he asked hearing himself quite clearly. The man in front of him looked unsure of what to say but noticed the glare sent his way. "We can't hear you, Majesty. I think you have a voice problem." The guard said trying not to upset the already enraged King. Roderich tried speaking again, hearing himself perfectly but he was quick to realised the guards still didn't understand him. He waved one of his hands in the air dismissing the two before walking angrily towards the throne room.

One thing Roderich noticed while walking towards the throne room was how his castle looked unclean. Spider webs were pretty much everywhere, dust seemed to be the new floor, the statues hidden under the same dust and the portraits of his ancestor losing colors. Not a candle was lit and the castle looked dark and gloomy. The King hated it. He also noticed, looking out the windows that his beautiful garden which he made people work hard to keep perfect was a mess. He never thought nature could be so ugly, so unforgivable.

The king sat in his throne room, remembering the previous events that happened. He remembered the Witch, her threat and the conditions and blah blah blah. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but seeing how everything looked old and awfully kept he decided it must have been a while. He wasn't sure how his Kingdom was going or if they all blacked out like him and the rest of his staff. He would have to take a look at that later. For now he was wondering why he was waking up now and not later or sooner. This whole story was giving him a headache and decided to try remembering what that witch had said. "She was a real bitch that's for sure. Letting me on the floor for god knows how long." He mumbled to himself.

He looked at how the people were cleaning the room coming and going with different cleaning stuff he supposed, working quickly but making a somewhat acceptable job. It wasn't perfect, but nothing can be perfect in this world, but it isn't enough for the King. He wants everything to be perfect. It never was enough. He tried so many things to be perfect. He learned piano, he learned different tongues learned everything he was taught receiving perfect grades as a child, but his father would never see that. He would only see those imperfect bastards in the streets and that annoyed the King to no end.

Roderich closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about his past, his father. He was King now, he was perfect now. He didn't need to think about that anymore and his head was hurting too much for him to be able to even concentrate.

Images were flowing through his head mixed up with different voices all saying different things. He wondered if he wasn't going crazy, but then, only the Witch voices came loud between his two hears "Someone will come, when this person comes you'll wake up. You'll have three months to make them fall in love with you." The rest of the sentence is blurry but he had the essentials. That meant someone is in his castle. Someone he never saw before, someone who doesn't work for him. He decided that the first thing to do was to find said person. The king hoped the person was of his standards otherwise he might just throw them out.

He asked his servants to look for a new face that would probably be somewhere in the castle. He then realised nobody could hear him and went back to his thoughts. He would find that person by himself. Obviously the person he was looking for would probably a girl. Men usually fall in love with women, but really Roderich never found a woman that attractive and maybe this time would be different. He had heard of men being in love with men or women being in love with women, it was just less common. He closed his eyes his headache still present. He swore his head hit the floor harder than first anticipated. He would probably need a doctor to look at his head.

After a while and receiving no news about an unknown person in the castle he went to the piano in the throne room. Roderich made sure to have a piano in the most important rooms in case he needed to hear the sound of the instrument. He noticed that the servants had the decency of cleaning it first. He sat and started playing, letting his mind go blank, enjoying the music. He hadn't been able to talk to anyone, apparently he had voice problems, but he had learned to express his emotions through music, the people in the room leaving him. Even if the King couldn't talk anymore, they knew better than to stand in the room when he played piano.

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When the door opened Gilbert didn't expect to see three maids cleaning around the hall, making sure no dust was left on the stuff. The exterior of the castle was a real maze and so unkept that the albino thought the inside would be dusty or not very well cleaned like it was. The statues on each side of the walls were shinning from the sun coming through the large windows above the statues. The marble floor looked new, the same with the expensive looking dark red carpet going all the way to a door up a flight of a large staircase in dark blue marble. Gilbert looked up to see a huge chandelier lit up. He then noticed one of the maids looking at him confused.

The maid looked at the new comer. She hasn't seen anyone new for a long time and she didn't expect to see someone new, after all the castle's gardens were practically impossible to go through. She decided it was better if that odd-looking person was seen by the King. She noticed her King was looking for something for the past three days and well, she couldn't let a stranger in the castle without telling the King. "Welcome stranger. I'll bring you to the King, if you would kindly follow me." She said. Gilbert decided to follow her, not wanting to be kicked out, he had a mystery to solve here. "I suggest you not to get on his bad side. He is also a bit moody lately, lost his voice, it's hard on him." The maid stopped in front of two guards and one disappeared somewhere in the castle. He thanked the maid for the tips and waited. The guard came back and told him to follow. Gilbert did as he was told. He was led in many different hallways before stopping in front of a large wooden door, nicely decorated. No doubt the King was rich. The guard opened the door and motioned for him to go inside the guard following close behind.

And Gilbert learned at that moment that the saying: "Don't judge a book by its cover" wasn't something used in the castle."

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**A.N: ** Okay, I didn't know how to end this and well that's all I have. Do not worry, next time Gilbert and Roderich will interact, yeah! I wanted them to interact in this chapter but realised it was getting long and uneventful. So I hope you liked it anyways.

Also, I'm moving out next week, so the new chapter will be a little late!


	3. Chapter 2

**A.N: **Chapter 2 guys! I know I'm super late! Huggg, no excuses this time. I could say I was at hospital but I was there or only two and a half days, so yeah, not a reason. Also, school started again for me, but that doesn't change anything, I won't start posting at bigger intervals, maybe even I'll be faster! Enjoy!

Also thank you for the reviews and the follows and the favourite! Means a lot to mee! And it makes me feel bad for updating so late x) But that's alright, I'll be faster now, because the story is going on!

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Chapter 2

"When Roderich plays music his world stops. The minutes and the hours stop existing. He would play for hours without noticing it. People would keep wondering how someone can play for so long without eating, drinking or just take a break. What they didn't know is that Roderich tells a story through his music. He tells a story to the listener and the one who understands. He plays a story he'll never tell aloud. When he plays piano, Roderich wants to let every dark side of his heart go through his music. He wants people to hear how low he thinks of his story, but no one listen to him. They only listen to the sound the instrument make, never the story of the man who plays. And if no one can understand what he wants, no what he needs to say, then he'll take his story to the grave.

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If there is one thing Gilbert learned in life it is to never judge a book by its cover. He learned that people often create a shield as protection between them and the rest of the world. The albino learned that they did so to avoid getting hurt to easily and to decide who they considered alright having in their life and that this is why one has to get to know someone before making a decision about them. Gilbert had a nice example growing up. His father. On first look the man looked intimidating and serious. He looks like someone who is strict and severe and whom doesn't want anybody in his life, but once who get to know him, they would discover the soft side of the man and how dearly he cares for his loved ones. His father later told him that he kept this shield, as he would call it, to protect them, his family. He said that if he didn't look scary, bad people would be more inclined to come and steel them or destroy the cultivation. Gilbert thought his brother is a lot like his father. The albino thinks he is more like his mother. They both would show their emotions and act on them without thinking first. The young man got in trouble a lot in the past for this kind of behaviour, but he always considered his mom as a role model.

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When both men first look in the other eyes, it could have been love at first sight or they could have started to hate each other with no reason right away, but it wasn't anything like that. Even if Roderich did hate pretty much everyone he set his eyes on, he couldn't say he hated the albino just yet. He would wait for him to speak first so that he would have an excuse to hate him. The king may think of himself higher than everyone else, he still had the decency of having an excuse to hate someone. It could go from "They do not take care properly of their land", "His hands were not washed" to "the sound of his voice does not fit his figure." Really, anything was an excuse to hate someone, except the look. Sure, Roderich did care about how one look, but he would never admit or say aloud that he hated this person because it was badly dress. What kind of person would he be if he worked like that?

As for Gilbert, he really tried to not judge a person within the first seconds of the meeting. His mom always taught him not to and that if he dares to break someone's shell, he would always be surprise by a different personality. It wasn't always a good one, it takes all kind of people to make a world and so the albino would have to face all kind of person and he needed to be prepare. So when he first saw the aristocrat sitting at his piano acting as if he was better than anyone else in the room, Gilbert really had a hard time not to classify him as a bad person.

The maid who brought Gilbert finally spoke after a questioning glance was cast to her from her King. "Your Majesty, this boy was standing at the front door; I figured he was the one you were looking for." She quickly drew her eyes to the floor when she saw the disapproving look on the king's face. The albino ignored the boy comment; he didn't want to put the maid in more trouble. He looked at said King wondering why he hasn't spoken yet. He was surprised to see violet eyes staring right back at him as if waiting for him to say something. The maid, whom Gilbert completely forgot about, stammered and let couple of words slip out of her mouth which she stopped after the King send her a warning look. She coughed and said in a much clearer but shy voice "You may speak." The king at the piano sigh, tire of no one understanding him and played a little on his piano before waving his hand in the air, sign he was dismissing them. The maid pulled on Gilbert's arm and brought him in front of a door, his room, before leaving in a hurry to do god know what.

The room in which Gilbert now resided was somewhat big enough to be usually given to important guesses. The walls were a dark and deep red, with gold decorations. The floor also was a red carpet, the same as the wall. The king size bed in the middle of the room was also red and the sides of the bed were in gold, making the albino if the King had an unhealthy obsession with the colour. The newcomer knew something wasn't quite right. First of all, he was welcome into the castle and allowed to stay even if he hasn't talk to the King. The later seemed to be awfully quiet to be on the throne. Usually important people talk a lot and they do not play piano or speak with movements to order people around. The red-eyed man sat on the edge of the bed thinking about how he would have to investigate on this mysterious king if he wanted to solve the problem that people from town had talked about.

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Gilbert opened his eyes at the sound of someone knocking on his door. He did not realise he had fallen asleep and let a small "come in" slipped out of his mouth before closing his eyes again hoping to get more sleep. He didn't realise he was that tired. "The king is waiting for you in the dining hall. Better not make him wait. He wishes to speak to you over diner, if you would please follow me." The albino groaned, stood up and decided to follow the maid when he heard his stomach make a growling sound.

The dining hall had a marbled floor and walls with a somewhat big table at the centre, which could hold about eight to ten person, which surprised Gilbert. He expected a bigger table for a King or in a castle. He sat at the end of the table where a plate and silverware were already set up. At the other end, the same set up was in place, probably for thin king whom arrived a few minutes later.

"Hello your Majesty, my name is Gilbert Be…" He was cut off by the king who simply started eating his food as if he wasn't listening to the boy in front of him. After a while, Roderich look at the albino and started to move his mouth as if he was about to speak but no sounds came out. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." The browned hair man did the exact same thing one, two, three more times hoping the albino would understand soon. After all, he used some of his time just to let the newcomer of his…condition. "I'm really sorry, but I can't hear you." The King let out a desperate sigh once again before standing up and walking right next to Gilbert, and started talking, more like just moving his lips. He could easily hear himself but it was a different story for the others. The realisation suddenly strokes the red-eyed man. "You're mute, that's why I can't understand you." Roderich restrained himself from clapping is hands together to mock the younger boy. He needed to be nice to the boy if he wanted to get out of his current state. Otherwise the albino would have been kicked out a long time ago."

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**A.N: **Okay, that is it for chapter two; I swear next chapter stuff will happen! I hope you enjoyed anyway and I'll try to update every two weeks, I'll try really hard, but a good thing: the last chapter is written! Yeaaah! But not the chapters in between. Hehehe, I already have the last three chapters in mind, so yeah, maybe two or three more chapters before the final three! It's a short story


	4. Chapter 3

**A.N: **What is that? A Quick Update? Yes sir/madam! I hope you enjoy reading it because this story is coming to an end soon!

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Chapter 3

"Gilbert was bored. He had spent the past few weeks in the castle and considered himself trap. His bedroom door wasn't lock yet but walking around was a puzzle. He was free to go wherever he wanted they told him, but the North Tower was out of bound. Forbidden. Private. After hearing all the rules concerning the special tower, as he came to name it, the albino tried numerous times to reach said tower. Unfortunately there always seem to be guards with more than perfect eyesight and when he did managed to get pass them, a staff member would quickly locate him and would kick him out closing the door in his face. Literally.

He never crossed path with the King after the first diner they shared. The white-haired man wanted to, needed, to have a real conversation with the violet eyed man, as much as he could have a conversation with a mute who didn't seem to be able to converse in any other form than using his now non-existent voice. Gilbert tried getting in touch with the king, but every time he asked a staff member he would get turned down because Roderich was busy doing something else, always more important than being with a guess. The albino knew it was a lie. Even if the guy was a king and kings were usually busy, they couldn't be occupied 24/7 and not received any visit or even leave the castle. So he changed tactic. He started to ask around about the royal family, the history of the castle: "When was it built?" "Did it survived a lot of wars?" then he would ask about the lands around, but when he would ask about the king or when he just somewhat mentioned the other man on a conversation, they would all stop talking. They would take few moments more than necessary to always answer the same thing: "Something happened and things changed." And when Gilbert tried to get deeper on the subject, they were suddenly needed somewhere else. It was as if they all agreed that the "something" was nothing important and as if they all agreed on the same story and decided to keep the real version a secret from the stranger and this bothered the albino to no end. But the more he asked, the less they talked.

At some point in his boredom, Gilbert found the library. He wasn't a reader. He hated reading for no reasons. He felt like wasting important time allowed to his life for nothing. But he was bored and usually libraries in castle would hold important information about said place on the past royal families, the history, but they contained no more than what Gilbert already knew. One day, around eight p.m. he hoped he would be able to find some secret passage that would lead him to the special tower, or in a room that contained all the darkest secrets about the Kingdom, but all he found was spiders and dust.

One thing the albino boy noticed while exploring the castle was that in every important room a piano would stood in a corner. A majestic black _piano a queue _with small gold decorations on its sides. It was always the replica of the same piano. So much look-alike that Gilbert wondered if the staff weren't moving the same one rooms from rooms. One day he almost sat to try to play the instrument, but a maid passing by gave him a disapproving look and he stopped his actions before going back to his room. After a while he went to the kitchens, talked to the cooks. He asked them to teach him how to cook, how to prepare different dishes, how to mix different ingredients to make a plate tasty without overshadowing others flavour. Sure, Gilbert didn't mastered the art. He stayed with the cook for a month, before he suddenly stopped coming, and the cooks would never know why.

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One night, Gilbert was coming back from the kitchens like he had for the past month. He was thinking leaving this place and just get on with his life. The King obviously didn't want him around and would do nothing to hold him back. The albino decided he would be leaving the next morning. So he packed his stuff and went to sleep, planning on eating a breakfast, saying his good-bye to the cooks because he did appreciated their company during his stay. If he had time he would go and say good-bye to the maid who first brought him here, she was a fine lady and she helped him many times when he would get lost.

So the next morning the red-eyed boy was once again leaving the dining room, this time he headed towards the front door. He was leaving for good, but all his convictions fell away when he saw him. The king was walking towards that damned north door, but this time Gilbert would surely not let this opportunity go away. "Your Majesty! Please wait! I need to talk to you!" Roderich didn't stop. Maybe he was too lost in his own thoughts or he did it on purpose but the albino had other plans in mind. He ran to the king, wanting to stop him by holding him back by the arms, but he miserably fell after tripping in his own feet, but he did managed to get hold of the king's left foot. The later quickly turned around with a puzzled look on his face. Gilbert smiled a little. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute or two" he said casually. As much as he could being sprawled on the floor holding the king foot. Roderich only raised an eyebrow. His eyes were asking how in the world they would converse if he couldn't even speak. The albino while getting up and dusting himself up simply answered the unspoken question. "I believe you can write. All we'll need is paper, a quill and ink and you can talk." The king look hesitant at first, but he remembered his time was counted by a very precise clock he couldn't see, so he just made Gilbert follow him. After all, he had nothing to lose.

Roderich had resigned himself a while ago. He would become a stone statue in the middle of the village. He wouldn't let that witch get what she wanted so he let her win the game he never really played. He had locked himself in the Northern tower, playing piano, thinking, reflecting on his life and decided if he stopped living right now it wouldn't matter much. He spent his life in the castle and he would end it there. He was a King and he would be remembered even if he was just an amount of rock somewhere.

"What's your story? I asked around but they don't want to talk about it. So if you want to tell me." Roderich sight. He wasn't going to confess his life to this stranger, so he took the quill and started writing.

_I was born here, lived here, lost my voice and I'll die here. Anymore questions?_

Gilbert looked up from the piece of paper. "Really? That's all you could come with? Care to tell me how you got that curse? How you lost your voice? Or maybe you don't want to go first. I'll go first, then you can write your story too?" Roderich considered the proposition and nod his head in agreement. So Gilbert started his life story. He talked a lot about his family. How his dad was a great man, his mom the kindest woman earth would see and his little brother. How the boy would go far in life, how he looked like his father, how the albino would try to get him in trouble and would fail. Then, he started talking about his life when he learned how to solve mysteries. How he made his name and how he would solve problems of people. He narrated three or four stories. And the boy kept talking and talking. He didn't stop. "… and that's how things returned to normal. I have a lot more stories, but I'll keep them for later, so we can spend some time together. Now your turn to tell me about your story, majesty."

Roderich started writing. He wrote about his dad, his life as a kid in the castle, his passion for piano. He wrote about how his dad would always leave him behind. He would write about how his father considered the peasants more important than his son. Then he would start writing about how he became King, how he was jealous of those who stole his father. How he took his revenge. And then, the writing was messy, he wrote about that night, when the witch came and took his voice. He wrote about his curse and how to undo it. He wrote the time he had left. The letters on the paper disturbed Gilbert a little.

_If I don't succeed in time, I'll become a stone statue in the village._

How could the king not care about that? "How much time do you have left?" the albino was curious and Roderich might not have wanted to share this piece of information but he did anyway. The red-eyed man was the first to take the time to ask him what happened. To stop him and break the first barrier of resistance the king had put between him and the world. He owed him that much. So he wrote.

_Two weeks._

Gilbert cursed. He had heard stories about witches cursing bad people and giving them a time-limit to complete some kind of task, but falling in love in a specific amount of time were the worst. Gilbert always hated those. But they were fairy tales and it never happened in life, but he had to admit that stories were repeating themselves again and again and it just annoyed him. "A time-limit? Why is there always a time-limit? That is just unfair!"… "And love? Why is it always love, why can't it be, I don't know… friendship? I believe friendship is more important than love, but it's always love!" Roderich couldn't agree more. He had heard those stories and he had the same opinion on the love thing. It was just stupid, but now he was trap in one of those fairy tale and he was doomed to fail at his task."

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**A.N.: ** There you have it! Only three or four chapters left my dear friends and it all comes down to those last chapters. Again I still want to thank for the supports even if it's just reading 'till the end, 'cause I see that not everybody read 'till the last chapter posted, so to those of you who do it, thank you! I'd rather like to see that 30 persons read the third chapter than 200 read only the first one.

Final countdown guys! And I just wanted to say I lied! I only have the skeleton of the last chapters… hehe sorry! Hope you liked this chapter, see you soon!


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